Muzzled Hero Husky Honks Car Horn to Rescue Trapped Dogs and Cats

A Husky named Kiki, muzzled, was locked in the cab of a van. His friends -- two Husky-Rottweiler crosses named Buddy and Six-Toes, along with two cats -- were in the back of the van. The dogs were all muzzled, and the cats were in a cage. The doors of the van were locked.

The animals had been in there a week, according to police.

Everyone wanted out, obviously. Huskies are known for howling, but Kiki was muzzled. What did Kiki do?

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He figured out how to use the horn. Then he slammed on the horn. He laid on it hard until help arrived, in the form of the London Police, who quickly brought in the London Humane Society.

"The dogs were muzzled so they couldn't make a sound, Judy Foster, the executive director of the London Humane Society, told the London Free Press. "I think he figured out how to use the horn. Dogs are very smart, they watch us all the time."

"Whether it was a coincidence or whether he figured this out, we don't know," she said to thestar.com. "I have never heard of this happening before."

Police aren't sure whether the dogs were abandoned. It's likely that they were fed during the week, but there was no food or water in the van when they were rescued.

What were they doing there? That's where the story, already tragic, gets worse. It started Dec. 3, when the Humane Society got a call from concerned neighbors about the unsanitary conditions inside Donna Herbert and Allan Folkins-Wyre's apartment in London.

That night, rather than face the London Humane Society officers, the couple left, taking the three dogs and two cats with them. We now know they bundled the animals into a moving van and left them there.

"We don't know how long the animals were in the van alone, we don't know the last time the owners came out to feed them," Foster said. "But you can't have cats and dogs living in a U-Haul."

What's worse, the animals were in "deplorable conditions" in the van. Fortunately, that allowed officers to load up on charges for the couple. According to thestar.com, "Donna Hebert and Allan Folkins-Wyre have been charged with five counts of cruelty to animals: three for causing an animal to be in distress, one of failing to provide necessary care, and another for failing to provide adequate and appropriate sanitary conditions."

As for the dogs, Foster is confident. She said they're "in poor body condition, but we can bring them back to health."